


put this day back on replay

by yodaliciouszayn



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Death, Other, Sadness, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-25
Updated: 2013-02-25
Packaged: 2017-12-03 13:56:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/698984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yodaliciouszayn/pseuds/yodaliciouszayn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Liam can't help visiting.  And when he does, he can't help the memories that come with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	put this day back on replay

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my first oneshot up here, not my best work, but I hope you like it!

Liam steps out, microphone in hand. He’s scanning the arena, empty as deserted temple, quiet as a funeral.

He closes his eyes.

“Am I asleep, am I awake or somewhere in between? I can’t believe that you were here and lying next to me?” 

The song lyrics sound rusty and unused in his ears, but he keeps going, persistent. 

Slowly, the old sweetness returns to his mind and he can almost feel the adoring fans screaming for him, the fire pumping through his veins along with the rush of adrenaline from performing live.

His eyes flicker behind his closed lids, and he takes another deep breath. He opens his mouth.

“Or did I dream that we were perfectly entwined? Like branches on a tree, or twigs caught on a vine?”

“Like all those days and weeks and months I tried to steal a kiss.”

Liam’s heart stops. 

Because he hears it. He hears the gentle Irish voice that used to pick up the song where he had left off, so many years ago. He quickly opens his eyes, because he needs to check if he’s hallucinating or not, and wow.

The stadium is full, thousands of cheering girls in the stands, holding up posters and shouting ‘We love 1D!”

Liam’s breath catches in his throat, and he glances around to his right, not sure if this was some sort of dream.

Then he freezes.

There’s a boy; blonde, green polo shirt, blue jeans, white supras. He’s holding a microphone to his lips, white teeth flashing extra bright because of the braces attached to them. 

Their gazes lock, deep brown to sky blue, and he smiles.

Liam is most definitely insane, because Niall Horan is standing next to him. 

And he’s singing, brightly and full of energy, just like the old days.

“And all those sleepless nights, and daydreams where I’d pictured this. I’m just the underdog, who finally got the girl. And I am not afraid to tell it to the world.”

Niall finished his lines and steps back, a light grin on his face as if he’s expecting someone. And he is.

Harry steps out from behind him, dimples flashing, green eyes crinkled, curly hair ruffled. He looks at Liam and shoots him a wink, like this is all completely normal.

Liam can only watch in wonder as Harry opens his cherry red lips and belts out the chorus. 

“Truly, madly, deeply I am. Foolishly, completely, falling. And somehow you kicked all my walls in, so baby say you’ll always keep me. Truly, madly, crazy deeply in love, with you.”

Harry nods confidently at Liam as he completes his part. “In love, with you.”

Liam barely manages to haul the mike up to his lips and stammer out his next lines, stumbling over the words like he himself hadn’t written them. He spits out the last lines, shaky. “Or s-should I act so cool, like it was no big d-deal?”

He should’ve realized what was gonna happen next, but it shocked him to no end when he saw Zayn appear on his left, hair perfectly done and tattoos stark against his pale skin. 

The boy raised an eyebrow at Liam as if to say ‘You okay mate?’

Liam didn’t know what to do.

“Wish I could freeze this moment in a frame, and stay like this. Or put this day back on replay and keep reliving it.” 

His voice sends shivers down Liam’s spine, because its achingly familiar and tugs at every string in his soul.

“Cause here’s the tragic truth, if you don’t feel the same. My heart would fall apart, if someone said your name.”

Niall and Harry jump in, and together the three of them sing the chorus in a hauntingly bitter-sweet harmony. 

Liam doesn’t join them.

But now he’s caught on enough so that he knows what’s coming next.

Or should he say, who’s coming next.

And he’s right.

Louis, chipper in tight red trousers and a printed button up, strolls out in front of his bandmates, his ocean orbs twinkling with their usual mischievous light. He giggles and bumps Zayn’s hip as he passes, and Liam’s heart breaks at the oh-so-familiar playful banter.

“I hope I’m not a casualty, hope you won’t get up and leave, I don’t meant that much to you, but for me it’s everything.”

Louis looks directly at Liam, a soft smile gracing his lips.

“Everything.”

Niall shouts a quick “All together now!” And the screaming in the stands (all but forgotten to Liam) re-doubles in volume.

In unison, Harry, Louis, Zayn, Niall, and finally Liam (who had finally gathered his wits) raise their microphones to their mouths and croon the last verses to their song. The five boys gather at the front of the stage, singing for all they were worth and as if this was their last show.

Liam loses himself in the music, and finally, he’s smiling and happy.

“In love, with you. In looveee, with you. Iiiiin love, with you. With yooouuuuu, ohhhhh.”

The last note goes echoey as the song fades out into silence.

Just as suddenly as they had appeared, the audience in the house flickers away, leaving the stands as cold and empty as before.

Liam turns to his bandmates, and as the old rush of excitement leaves him, his questions came back.

To his horror though, the lifelike forms of his four best friends were thinning and dwindling, looking more like mirages then people now.

Liam desperately reaches out, grabs Niall’s hand, but its insubstantial now. He looks up sadly to see a rueful smile on the Irish boy’s face, and he wants to cry.

“Don’t go.” He whispers, pleadingly. 

“Liam.” It surprises Liam, but the fading figure of Louis says his name. “You got your wish.” 

“We performed with you one last time.” Harry is speaking now, his long arm wrapped around Louis’s shoulders. His gentle voice is quiet and regretful, but firm. “Its time for us to go.”

“But you can’t leave me here alone again!” Liam says frantically, and now he can taste salt on his lips, but he doesn’t care.

“You’re not alone, babes. We’re always with you. And when your time comes, we’ll all be together like the old days.” Zayn says, high cheekbones stretched into a half-smile that Liam recognizes as his ‘wise-‘words’ expression.

Liam laughs brokenly, because as much as he used to hate that expression, all he wants is to see it everyday.

“We love you Liam, and don’t you forget it.” Niall’s blue eyes are dangerously bright as he talks, and he looks like he’s on the verge of tears as well. 

The shortest boy holds out his arms. “Once more, lads?” His voice is thick.

All of the boys, real and unreal, gather into a tight group, wrapped around each other like they always used to do. 

Liam squeezes his eyes shut and breathes in the comforting smells of his brothers. When he opens them again, he’s standing alone, microphone in hand and a hollow feeling in his heart.

He looks despairingly at the ground, and kicks his toe over the engraving carved into the hard material of their stage. 

He can still see the burn marks from the fire marring the edges, but the words are permanently engrained his mind.

In memory of Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan. Forever remembered, forever young. 

Then Liam sits down, wraps his arms around himself, and for the first time, lets them go. 

If he listens carefully though, he could still hear their bright laughs and gentle voices, singing a melody that’s just a memory on the wind.

'Wish I could freeze this moment in a frame and stay like this, or put this day back on replay and keep reliving it.'


End file.
